First Day Jitters

 Well. 

That was a day unlike most any other I can remember. Usually the first day of school involves a swarm of anxious parents and kids, milling around, searching for a teacher or a friendly face to help them land in the right spot when the bell finally rings.

There was no bell. That was different. There was a swarm of anxious parents and a few kids. They were looking for a teacher or friendly face to help them to the right spot. But there was no bell. That's because the first day of school this year was all about logistics. Make sure your kid is registered. Go and pick up a work packet and maybe meet this year's teacher. Then head on over to the technology table where you can get a Chromebook and maybe a wi-fi hotspot to log in for what could be the next long haul of distance learning. 

In all those years before, I have been the friendly face ushering all those anxious folks to their eventual destinations. This time, it was me in the spotlight. The guy with the technology table and all the answers about how they were supposed to get three kids, all in different grades, on Al Gore's Internet at the same time. From nine o'clock that morning to one in the afternoon I barely got a chance to look up. Each time I did, I saw a line stretching off into the distance. I knew that I was barely keeping up, and when I finally got some much needed help, we were finally able to put computers into the hands of the families who had come and stood in the sun while we scrambled to prepare them all for our current state of affairs. 

There was no calm moment, once everyone had been walked to their classroom and the new year could begin. This was a non-stop flurry of looking up student numbers and assigning devices to that number and then moving as quickly as possible to the next parent without leaving too many questions unanswered. I'm not sure how I did on that last one. I am pretty sure that I will get to spend some more quality time filling in the blanks that I left when I smiled beneath my mask and asked if there was anything else I could do to make this online learning any easier. 

How do I answer a question like, "I have to go back to work. Who is going to watch my kids while they do their distance lessons?" Or "When will my kids be going back to school?"

How about ditching the whole thing and starting over once we can crowd kids back into classrooms where they belong? Sorry. That wasn't very helpful. I have a few more chances to try and make up for that. I want to be the relief from being anxious, not the reason for it. That's what tomorrow is for.